Queen Rania Al-Abdullah (Arabic: رانية آل عبدالله)(born Rania Al-Yasin on August 31 1970), is the queen consort of King Abdullah II, the king of Jordan.
Early life
Rania Al-Yasin was born in Kuwait to Arab Palestinian parents. She attended primary and secondary school at New English School in Kuwait, then gained a degree in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo. After her graduation in 1991, Queen Rania worked at Citibank before taking a job at Apple Computer in Jordan.
Marriage and children
She met Jordanian king Abdullah bin Al-Hussein, then Prince, at a dinner party in January 1993. Two months later, they announced their engagement and on June 10, 1993, they were married.
They have four children:
- Hussein (born June 28, 1994)
- Iman (born September 27, 1996)
- Salma (born September 26, 2000)
- Hashem (born January 30, 2005)
Queen of Jordan
| Styles of Queen Rania as consort | |
|---|---|
| File:Hashemitearms.jpg | |
| Reference style | Her Majesty |
| Spoken style | Your Majesty |
| Alternative style | Ma'am |
She has been an outspoken advocate of women's rights. She was awarded the honorary rank of colonel in the Jordanian Armed Forces by her husband, King Abdullah, on June 9, 2004.
She was named the third most beautiful woman in the world in the 2005 top 100 of Harpers & Queen magazine. In addition, she was the youngest queen in the world at the time King Abdullah succeeded to the throne. Rania Al-Yassin (now Queen Rania al-Abdullah), who is renowned for her philanthropic work. Her activities encompass issues of national concern, as well as several core issues that she has a special interest in:
- The development of income-generating projects
- Encouraging the advancement of best practices in the field of microfinance
- The protection of children from violence
- The promotion of Early Childhood Development
- The incorporation of Information Technology into schools
Some of the organizations with which the Queen is involved with are:
- Jordan River Foundation
- Arab Women's Summit
- Arab Academy for Banking and Financial Sciences (AABFS) - a pioneering institute in the ME region offering technical and academic training in banking and financial services
- Jordan Cancer Society
- National Team for Family Safety
- National Team for Early Development
- Child Safety Program and Dar Al-Amman (center for abused and neglected children, the first of its kind in the Middle East)
International initiatives
In 2004, Queen Rania chaired the nomination committee for the newly founded Forum of Young Global Leaders, associated with the World Economic Forum. She is also involved in the following initiatives:
- World Economic Forum (Foundation Board member)
- UN Children's Fund (particularly the Global Leadership Initiative)
- The Vaccine Fund (board member since 2002)
- International Youth Foundation
- FINCA (Foundation for International Community Assistance; board member since 2003)
- International Osteoporosis Foundation
- Visit to South Africa in 2006 where she visited the Tygerberg Hospital, the second largest hospital in Africa
She makes many public appearances, including a half-hour television interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show on May 17, 2006.[1]